A volunteer coach with the Bridgewater-Raynham wrestling team said a petition has begun circulating to reinstate head coach Jeff Francis, who was fired Friday amidst a police investigation into hazing allegations.

By Amy Carboneau

Wicked Local

By Amy Carboneau

Posted Jan. 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 19, 2012 at 7:11 PM

By Amy Carboneau

Posted Jan. 19, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 19, 2012 at 7:11 PM

BRIDGEWATER

» Social News

As police and school officials remain silent about the ongoing investigation into hazing allegations in the Bridgewater-Raynham wrestling program, a part-time volunteer coach has confirmed that a petition is circulating to reinstate head coach Jeff Francis, who was fired amid the controversy.

Lee Beane, a B-R alumnus and volunteer coach with the wrestling program, said Tuesday he has received anywhere from 50 to 75 calls since Saturday when news of the alleged hazing incident broke. The calls came from past wrestlers and friends of the coach, asking how they can help, said Beane.

“He’s the reason so many are where they are today,” Beane said.

Beane confirmed a petition has started circulating to reinstate Francis, but could not confirm details of where it started or how many have signed it.

Wrestlers on both the varsity and junior varsity squads have been suspended from competition. No one has been suspended from the school.

Calls to several parents of wrestlers Wednesday evening went unanswered. Others declined comment.

Beane said before he graduated from B-R in 2002, he wrestled for Francis, who was then an assistant coach.

And Francis, he said, is the reason he returned.

“I’m just there to help work with the kids like the coaches helped me,” Beane said Tuesday night. “And as long as I’m concerned, I’m done coaching at B-R if he is.”

Beane, now an Easton resident, began helping out in 2008.

He would not comment Tuesday on the allegations.

“I think at the end of the day ... the school is just trying to do what they think is best for the kids,” said Beane. “But you’ve just gotta take a look at what the man has done for the past 25 years as assistant and head coach.”

In the program’s 35-year history, the Trojans have won 21 league championships. In December 2011, the team broke a nearly 21/2-year winning streak of regular-season matches.

Some anonymous commenters on The Enterprise’s website have spoken out against Francis, saying he deserves to be fired if the allegations are true.

Others stand firmly behind him.

A mother of one of the wrestling team’s captains said Friday, “everyone is devastated” about Francis’s firing.

Former teammate Peter Wyman, who is father of the 2008 New England champion Brett Wyman, told The Enterprise on Saturday that he has never seen Francis endorse or encourage any form of hazing in the 33 years he has known him.

“He is one of the finest individuals you could ever hope to coach your children,” Wyman said.

State Rep. Angelo D’Emilia, R-Bridgewater, also recently stood by Francis, a past football teammate of his at B-R.